Quick disconnect electrical connector



Aug. 14, 1962 F. J. SPARBER QUICK DISCONNECT ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1961 INVENTOR. Frederick J. .Sp arberAttorney Aug. 14, 1962 F. J. SPARBER QUICK DISCONNECT ELECTRICALCONNECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 1961 INVENTOR. Frederick J.Sparber A llomey United States Patent C) F 3,0435% QUICK DESQONNECTELECTRECAL CONNECTGR Frederick J. Spar-her, Bel-en, N. Mex, assignor, bymesne assignments, to the United States of America as represented by theUnited States Atomic Energy Commission Filed .lune 5, 1961, Set. No.115,051 2 Claims. (Cl. 339-45) The invention relates generally to aquick-disconnect connector and more particularly to an electricalcoaxial cable connector assembly provided with a lanyard device which isadapted to be operated from a remote position for rapidly and positivelydisconnecting the mating parts of the connector.

It is sometimes necessary, particularly in the aircraft field, toposition electrical connectors in normally inaccessible places, such as,for example, a connector in an electrical circuit between the airplaneand an externally mounted store, and on occasions it may be de sirableto effect a very rapid and positive uncoupling of such connector. It istherefore a principal object of the present invention to provide aconnector capable of being rapidly and positively uncoupled from aposition remote from the connector.

Another object is to provide the connector with a lanyard device toeffect the remotely controlled uncoupling operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a coaxial cableconnector which, when coupled, is highly resistant to shock andvibrations.

A still further object is to provide the lanyard device with amechanical advantage to ease the uncoupling operation.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description. The preferred embodiment illustrated isnot intended to be exhaustive nor to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed. It is chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and their application in practical use tothereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the inventionin various embodiments and modifications as are best adapted to theparticular use contemplated.

in the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the mating parts of theconnector in an uncoupled position;

FIG. 2 is an end view taken along line 2-2' of FIG. 1 showing the matingpart containing the disconnecting device;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment showing thedisconnecting device in an uncoupled position; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 3 but showing thedevice in the coupled position.

Described generally, the apparatus or device of the present inventioncomprises a coaxial cable connector 19, having a plug portion 12 and areceptacle portion 13. The two portions are adapted to be releasablyretained together by What may be termed a bayonet-type joint whichnormally comprises a plurality of projections or pins 14 on the surfaceof the plug portion 12 and a like number of interrupted threads orhelical grooves 15 on the inner surface of the receptacle portion 13.receptacle portion 13 has a stationary section 17 and a movable orrotatable section 18. The stationary section 17 includes a pair of boredprojections 19 which act as a 3,649,690 Patented Aug. 14, 1962 'icefixed fulcrum for a lanyard device 20 passing through the bores. Therotatable section 18 is positioned intermediate the stationary section17 and the plug portion 12 and includes on the outer surface thereof apair of winglike members 21 to which the lanyard device may be attachedand at the interior thereat the grooves 15.

With the mating portions attached, i.e., with the pins 14 seated withinthe grooves 15, the uncoupling of the device may then be attained byexerting a substantially linear force upon the lanyard device 20, whichcauses the movable section 18 to rotate with respect to the fixedsection 17 and the plug portion 12 to effect the withdrawal of the pins14 from the grooves 15.

Described in greater detail, the plug portion 12, as shown in FIG. 1,may be said to comprise a cylindrical tube 23 which may be attached to apanel or the like 24 in any suitable manner, such as, for example, byproviding the tube 23 with an annular flange 25, which may abut one sideof a panel 24, and a threaded surface 25 adjacent one end which mayfacilitate engaging a nut means 27 for rigidly securing the plug portion12 to the panel 24. The tube 23 which may correspond generally to theouter conductor of a coaxial cable, is adapted to house in any suitablemanner a centrally disposed conducting receptacle 28, which maycorrespond to the inner conductor of a coaxial cable. An insulatingplug-like member 30 may surround the receptacle so as to electricallyisolate the conductors from each other and also form a means of securingthe conductor 28- to tube 23. An annular groove 32 is formed between theinsulating member 30 and the tube 23 for receiving an annular matingpart 33' of the receptacle portion 13, which may be prevented fromrelative rotational movement by providing the inner surface of tube 23with a plurality of longitudinally extending slots 34- which are adaptedto engage alike number of longitudinally extending projections 35 on thesurface of mating part 3-3. A plurality of circumferentially spacedapart projections or pins 14 are positioned about the outer surface oftube 23 adjacent one end thereof for performing a mating function aswill be described below.

The receptacle portion 13, which may correspond to the outer conductorof a coaxial cable, comprises three main parts-namely, the stationarysection 17, the rotary section 18 and the mating part 33-.

The stationary section 17 may be made up of two concentrically arrangedcylinders or annular members 36 and 37, which may be joined together inany suitable manner, such as, for example, by a pressed fit or the like.The pair of projections 13 which are preferably circumferentially spacedapart from each other, form a portion of cylinder 35 and each may beprovided with a centrally located bore 38, which may be generallyparallel to the longitudinal axis of the connector 10, for facilitatingthe passage of the lanyard 20. The inner cylinder 37 may be providedwith a threaded inner surface 39 for engaging a threaded outer surface40 of a cylindrical barrel-like member or insert 41 which includes thecylindrical mating part 33, an annular shoulder 42 intermediate themating part 33 and the threaded surface 40; that is, the exteriorlythreaded part 40 screws into the threads 39 at the inside of cylinder37, to thereby pull the connector mating part firmly into position andso retain it. While the cylinder 37 is shown secured to insert 41 bythreaded surfaces it will appear obvious to others skilled in the artwhen practicing the invention to use other securing means, such as, forexample, pins extending through the cylinder 37 into the insert 41 or inany other suitable manner.

The rotatable section 18 which is adapted to abut against the stationarysection 17 may be composed of a pair of cylinders or annular members 43and 44 joined together in a manner similar to cylinders 36 and 37. Thecylinder 43 may have the same inner and outer diameters as cylinder 36and have on the outer surface a pair of wing-like members which may becircumferentially spaced apart similarly to the projections 19. However,the wing-like members 21 are somewhat different in shape from theprojections 19 in that they extend longitudinally on the surface ofcylinder 43 and are provided with bores 45 adjacent one end of thewing-like projections 21 which are substantially perpendicular to thebores 38 in the projections 19. It may be desirable to have a portion ofthe Wing-like members 21 extend over the surface of cylinder 37, thusacting as a stop against the projections 19 for the uncoupling rotarymovement of section 18. To operatively couple the rotatable section 18to the stationary section 17, as will be described in detail below, theinner cylinder 44 of the rotary section 18 may able holding means, suchas, for example, swaged balls 55 or the like.

A pair of compression springs 56 may serve to maintain the wing-likeprojections 21 in an abutting relationship with the projections 19 whenthe connector 10 is in an uncoupled condition, thus easing thesubsequent coupling operation by positioning the rotatable section 18 inits desired relationship to the stationary section 19 and the yanyard20. These compression springs 56 may be placed in a surrounding mannerabout the lanyard cable 20 between the projections 19 and the loopportion of the lanyard cable 20. The ends of each spring nearest theloop portion may be secured to the lanyard cable 20 l in any desirablemanner such as a swaged ball, a crimped be provided with an annularrecess 46 having one wall 47 p thereof adjacent one end of cylinder 44extending inwardly so as to be of nearly the same internal diameter ascylinder 37. The remainder of the cylinder 44 may have an internaldiameter slightly greater than that of the end wall 47. A plurality ofinterrupted threads or helical grooves 15 corresponding to the number ofpins 14 are formed in the inner surface of cylinder 44 and form a matingportion of the bayonet-type joint. The grooves 15 may each be providedwith a small notch 49 near the inner end thereof so as to form aretaining seating surface for each of the pins 14 when the latter isinserted into the grooves 15 during the coupling operation to bedescribed.

While the stationary section 17 and the rotary section are each shown asbeing built up from a pair of cylinders, it will be obvious to anotherskilled in the art when practicing the invention to use cylindricalmembers of one piece construction or of any other suitable design.

The stationary section 19 and the rotary section 18 may be coupledtogether to form a single unitary structure by positioning an annularretaining and compression spring, or the like, 51 of any desirablestrength in the recess 46 and then mate the threaded portion 48 ofinsert 41 with threads 39 so as to draw the shoulder 42 into alignmentwith the recess 46. Thus the rotary section 18 is held in a secure yetfreely rotatable manner adjacent the stationary section 19 by thecooperation between the spring 51 and the shoulder 42. Spring 51 alsofunctions to hold the pins 14 in the seating notches 49. The rotatablesection 18 is slightly longitudinally movable against the bias of spring51 so that when the pins 14 travel through the groove 15 and near thenotches 49 the forward end of tube 23 is adapted to abut the shoulder 42causing the pins to act upon the side walls of the groove nearest theplug portion 12 and move the rotatable section 18 towards the plugportion 12 against the bias of spring 51. Such movement of the rotatablesection 18 allows the pins 14 to reach the notches 49 where they will beforced into the notches 49 and held there by the action of spring 51tending to return the rotatable section 18 to its normal position.

An insulating member 53, which is shown separate from the receptacleportion 13 for ease of illustration, is adapted to house a centrallylocated plug shaped con ductor 54 corresponding to the inner conductorof a coaxial cable and may be positioned and secured within the insert41 in any suitable manner so as to permit the plug shaped conductor 54to mate with the receptacle 28 when the connector portions 12 and 13 arejoined.

A looped lanyard 20, as best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 and which maybe formed from a light wire cable of any desirable length, may beoperatively attached to the connector receptacle portion 13 by passingeach end of the lanyard cable first through the bore 38 in theprojection 19 and thence through bore 45 in the wing-like member 21. Thelanyard may be maintained in the above described position by providingthe cable ends with suitwasher, soldering or the like. While a pair ofsprings 56 are shown as a return bias for the lanyard it will appearobvious to use a single spring about the lanyard loop portion with itsends abutting each projection 19.

With further reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the receptacle portion 13 andthe plug portion 12 are coupled together by aligning the pins 14 withoutwardly open ends of the grooves 15 and the projections 35 with theslots 34. The projections 35 when within the slots 34 act as a holdingmechanism for preventing the connector components from rotary movementexcept for the rotary section 18, which is then free to rotate so thatwhen the pins 14 are started into the grooves 15 the section 18 isrotated, moving the wing-like member away from the projection 19 (asbest shown in the dotted section of FIG. 2.), thus causing the pins 14to move into the grooves 15 until they reach the seating notches 49where they are securely held by the bias of spring 51. The connector,when assembled as above, provides a highly stable electrical connectionresistant to shock and vibrations.

To uncouple the connector all that is necessary is to exert a pullingforce upon the lanyard 20, which efiects rotary movement of the rotarysection 18 with the projections 19 acting as a fixed fulcrum to rotatethe grooves 15 so as to place their open ends in alignment with the pins14 while at the same time causing axial separation of the plug andreceptacle portions to effectively break the electrical connection.While FIGS. 2-4 illustrate rotary movement of section 18 in the order ofit will be understood that the grooves 15- may be designed so as to varythe amount of rotary movement necessary to uncouple the connector.

The pulling force upon the lanyard 20 need not be in the same directionas the longitudinal axis of the connector; in fact, such pulling forceis still elfective to cause uncoupling when the lanyard is pulled at anangle substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of theconnector 10.

The uncoupling principle of the invention imparts a highly advantageousfeature to the connector field in that the speed with which theuncoupling operation can be achieved is substantially faster than theuncoupling devices known in the art. An example of the speed attained inconnector uncoupling is that it takes approximately two seconds touncouple the connector manually as opposed to an uncoupling timeapproaching 0.5 millisecond from load mechanically applied to thelanyard at a velocity near feet per second. The mechanical advantagegained by using the projections 21 greatly decreased the amount of loadupon the lanyard necessary to achieve connector uncoupling.

While the above description of the present invention is directedparticularly to use of the connector for electrical applications, itwill be obvious to others skilled in the art to use the principles ofthe invention in many diverse fields, such as, for example, in fluidconveying systems and the like.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A coupling device of the character described comprising thecombination of a pair of annular mating portions with one having a pinprojecting from an outer surface and the other having a helicallydisposed groove on an inner surface for receiving said pin to maintainthe portions assembled and With one including a slot therein and theother including a projection for reception in said slot to orient saidportions, one of said mating portions having a normally stationarysection and a relatively rotatable section, said stationary sectionincluding a member having a pair of oppositely disposed lugs extendingfrom an outer surface thereof with each lug having an aperturetherethrough, said rotatable section having substantially the same outerdiameter as said member and disposed in normally abutting relationshipwith said member and having on an outer surface thereof a pair ofoppositely disposed wing-like projections each including an aperturetherethrough and each having a segment thereof extending over saidmember for abutting a particular lug when said wing-like projectionshave been rotated to a relationship for disassembly of said matingportions, yieldable means operatively intermediate said stationarysection and said rotatable sections for urging the latter toward saidmember, a lanyard extending sequentially and continuously through saidapertures of the lugs and the wing-like projections, means aifixed toeach of opposite ends of said lanyard for retaining said lanyard in saidapertures, and compression spring means encircling said lanyard withends thereof abutting said lugs on said member for continuously urgingsaid wing-like projections toward said lugs on said member to amating-portion-disassembly direction, said spring means being of lengthsufficient to facilitate the rotatable section to move the pin throughsubstantially the length of said groove.

2. The device claimed in claim 1 wherein the apertures in said lugs aregenerally parallel to the longitudinal axis of said mating portions, andwherein the apertures in the wing-like projections are adjacent an endremote from the lugs and are generally perpendicular to the apertures insaid lugs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS410,417 Hix Sept. 3, 1889 1,477,440 Grier Dec. 11, 1923 1,920,524 ReedAug. 1, 1933 2,409,650 Wiggins Oct. 22, 1946 2,710,384 Dupre et al June7, 1955 2,984,811 Hennessey et a1 May 16, 1961

